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John Stones has been nothing but impressive at Manchester City. But his biggest test so far is right around the corner.
The Manchester Derby is on Saturday, and the English defender will have to take on two of the Premier League's best goalscorers in Wayne Rooney and superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Stones is the most expensive defender in English history, and he'll have to live up to his price tag in order to help City beat Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Stones face both Rooney and Zlatan in a charity match between United and John's former club Everton during preseason, and he hopes to keep the two Reds' poachers away from the goal this weekend. Regardless of what happens, though, Stones is looking forward to a great match on Saturday.
“We played United, before I came here, in a charity match for Wayne Rooney and I was up against Ibrahimovic.
“So I’ve had experience of playing against him before and hopefully I can figure out what he’s going to do if he plays or, if I play, which I hopefully will do.
“It will be an exciting game with a lot of big stars on the pitch, and I’m sure it’ll be a great watch for the fans who are going over to the game.”
Source: CityTV via M.E.N.
Stones also spoke about the managerial battle between Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho, once big rivals in Spain that will face off for the first time in England.
“That's another big debate that's been about, but I'm sure they'll show their respect to each other. They're two very respectable men, who've done a lot in the game, and we'll just have to see how it pans out, but I'm sure they'll be respectful to each other, whatever happens.”